The annual Pro Bowl has come under fire in recent years because the quality of play hasn't exactly been Super Bowl-caliber.

In a game that notoriously sees players dial it down a notch, Adrian Peterson doesn't plan to go easy.

The Minnesota Vikings running back, fresh off his outrageous 2,000-yard campaign on the heels of major knee surgery, is coming after the AFC.

"I'm going to play hard," Peterson told the St. Paul Pioneer Press on Monday. "It is hard for me to play down because when you play down, you put yourself in jeopardy of getting hurt going through the motions. So I won't be playing down."

We applaud this. The Pro Bowl could use a little fire in the belly, and Peterson has made it known he sees the game as something more than a free-spirited junket to Hawaii.